Wings of freedom
by Fasak
Summary: An alternative outcome at the forest of giant trees with another survivor. And what the future holds for that person and the ones who holds dear. [English is not the first language of the author, expect grammar mistakes] [Possibly sporadic updates, will be considered complete for now]


"It hasn't even been thirty seconds!" she said horrified. Her answer came when the monster opened one eyed. "Only one eye?! It prioritized one eye to accelerate the healing…Is that even possible?" no other titan that she or her team had ever fought was capable of such a thing!

Fear and despair seize her as the titan rushed at her, her limping arms waving at its sides. She keep pressing the lever of her handler, shooting gas from her gear, putting as much distance as she could from the monster. It wasn't working it kept getting closer.

"Petra! Pull yourself together!" she heard the voice of Olou yelling at her. She was trying, she was trying! But she needed more space; it could still lounge at her and bite her, just like she did with Eld. It got closer, its only eye following her like a predator chasing its prey, and what was worse she couldn't avert her gaze from that cold, impassive eye.

The female titan took one last step. All moved slowly, and with that she felt the fear; she could literally see it —she could touch it. It floated in the air, and climbed through her skin. That horrifying chill sensation ran down through her nape and molded into a cold piercing air that throttled her heart and her throat from within. Words, air, nothing came out of her. And with that she came to a realization.

She was going to die.

Here, in the forest of giant trees. Crushed like an ant by a _monster_ that simply wanted to kill them because _._ She wasn't going to come home and eat that horrible porridge that her father did. He wasn't going to walk her to an altar, dressed in white, with a ridiculous expensive and beautiful dress that she and her mother would have spent an entire day in get. She wasn't going to confess her feelings to that special reticent someone. She wasn't going to berate Olou for biting his tongue anymore. And those were only the things that she _wasn't_ going to do, she still had things left to do, so many things to do. She had to take her parents to that play in Karanes in the market square after returning from the expedition. And taste that new dish of that new stall in the market.

Not anymore, all of it, everything was going to end, right here and right now.

No, she didn't want that. She couldn't accept it. She was scared. She didn't want it to end. Not now, not like that, not like this. Not yet, please.

She had always been prepared to die. But she never steeled herself to let all that future go. She didn't want it to disappear, to vanish into oblivion. She didn't want to die. **_She didn't want to die!_**

A shadow cast over her, ready to reclaim her.

 ** _"_** ** _Petra!"_**

She screamed in horror. Her trembling fingers pressed the triggers of her handlers; it slammed her grappling hook into the ground and reeled her. The foot of the titan came dangerously close, but the force and inertia was strong enough to change her destination and launch her through the air. Her landing was not a gentle one; her body hit the dirt, and bounced and rolled on the ground, before skidding across the hard terrain of the forest. She felt something snap and fold in her body between those moments before coming to an abrupt deceleration by a slim tree. Air escaped from her lungs as she rammed against the slender trunk, thankfully her gear and the box of her blades crashed with the trunk instead of her back and head, cushioning part of the damage, but did little to abate the pain.

She rolled a few more meters before finally stopping, everything hurt, her head spin, her breath was ragged and her vision foggy, but she was alive. She tried to stand, but it was futile; she didn't even manage to get on her knees. The ground shook, and looked up in horror, only to meet that callous gaze of the female titan. The same chill sensation took over her, but stronger, it tangled around her body, raveling through her arms and legs, restraining her movements. She couldn't move. She couldn't even cry for help, something was wrapped around her throat, all the sound leaving as a whimper. Silent tears fell from her cheeks, as she quivered.

It stood meters away from her, but Petra knew that she only needed to take a step forward to end her life.

A silver lining appeared before her eyes. Behind the female titan; someone whom she never though would be so glad to see in her life. She watched how the frown of Olou morphed in a scowl, and launched towards the monster with a war cry. "DIE!"

Even though she wasn't in all her full senses she saw clearly how the ultrahard steel blades shattered. The expression of shock of Olou could only be matched by hers. What happened? The nape was exposed. She was sure that Olou didn't miss, he never missed, and even if he did why did the blades broke into little pieces?

All the attention of the titan turned to his only remaining teammate. She didn't even had the time to call for him. A roundhouse kick and he was gone. Just like that, it was fast, she could only follow the trail of blood that was on the trees to try to guess where he was.

"Olou…" his name came too late, and in nothing but a mere whisper. _She_ turned again to face her.

Whatever thing that possessed her at that moment was stronger than the one that was holding her down. She crawled away from the titan. Or at least tried, she was so beat, that she was barely capable of even doing that. "No! Don't – Don't come any closer!"

She could feel its stare, penetrating through her soul. The titan rose her feet.

 ** _"_** ** _STAY AWAY FROM ME!"_**

The air frizzled with electricity when a lightning bolt thundered behind her. Followed by a flash of light and what was between a roar and screech. It was Eren. Both happiness and woe swirled in her heart. Eren had come back to help them, but it was too late, everyone minus her was dead. She couldn't face him, not him, nor the captain. She told him to trust in them, and look at them, they all failed to keep their word. She felt horrible, and not only because of that. She felt horrible, because she was alive, and that he came back to rescue her. But if he failed, the titan would capture him.

And then humanity would perish. He should have just let her die.

Yet she couldn't stop to felt relief and elation. Goodness, how she hated herself right now.

What happened next, was stuff from her nightmares. Eren threw and uppercut, an attack that the female titan dodged, and launched a kick to the stomach of Eren. He needed to hurry, the female still hadn't healed her arms, but it was just a matter of time. If that thing took care of them in seconds with only her legs she didn't want to think what she could do with her arms. She eluded Eren's hook, and put some distance between them, she stumbled backwards until she hit against a giant tree with her back. They stood there, seconds later smoke started to emanate from the arms of the female titan. Oh, crap! She was healing already, he needed to kill her fast. Eren apparently knew that too, he launched punch after punch towards the titan, but she evaded every single one of them. He was more aggressive, and definitely strong, but the female was quicker and nimble.

She clenched her teeth. Tears streamed down her face, both in pain and frustration. She was helpless, she couldn't do a thing, her gear was totally wasted, and even if it wasn't she was in no condition to fight. And even if she was, she doubted that she could be of any help, she doubted that she could face the female titan again without feeling terror clawing up to her spine. The only thing she could do was pray, and hope for the best.

 _"_ _Shit"_ She sat up slowly, the slightest movement spread pain through her entire being. She sobbed quietly and spread her legs in front of her as she held her sides with one arm, the other one wasn't responding at all. Her entire uniform was a mess just like her. Half of her jacket was torn apart, her coat was gone and her pants were ripped, and somehow she had lost one boot, she couldn't see too well, her vision was getting blurrier, but she'd a pretty good idea that it was because of the huge blood stain in her calf. She undid with her good hand the belt that secured her 3DMG, half of it was gone, and she was carrying the other half. She crawled to the nearest tree and leaned against it.

She took what little remaining of her jacket had and wrapped as she could in her wound. Pain exploded and she cried it out, but didn't stop, she did what best she could with one hand. And turned to see how the fight was going. The female titan rolled on the ground as Eren threw a jab, and started to run in the opposite direction. Eren quickly followed it with a roar.

Silence reign in the forest. But only momentarily, faintly, she could hear the sound of a compressed gas being shot. Her senses weren't n her top shape right now, but judging by the sound of it, it seemed to be only one, her suspicions were correct as the sound grew stronger. In any other occasion she would have been happy to see Captain Levi. But not like this.

She couldn't see her expression, but she doubted that it would be different from his usual unflappable and placid aspect. He scanned every one of the bodies of _his_ team, the top notch soldiers that humanity could offer. He landed in a tree in front of her.

She lifted her head with a grunt of pain. She couldn't meet his eyes, not because any emotion, but because she literally couldn't, she was losing consciousness, she felt wobbly and woozy, to be honest it was a miracle that she was alive, moreover move. Besides, she didn't want him to see her in this shape, both because of her pride as a soldier and as a woman. She was the lone survivor of the squad; she picked him himself due her skills, and look how she was. He'd expectations for her, expectation which she wanted to live and surpass.

And she failed.

She pointed in the direction in which Eren had left. It was an arduous task by itself. Her arm was trembling, let alone the pain. She was barely able to do that.

But it was the only thing that she could do.

The captain left in the direction in which she'd pointed.

Her arm fell to the ground, giving up to fatigue. She rested her head against the tree. When she though that she couldn't hear the captain anymore she broke into tears.

She bawled her eyes out, covering her face, her shame, she didn't care about the pain, or the exhaustion, hell, she didn't even know about what she was crying. Her teammates? Her pride? The pain? The fear? She didn't care, she only wanted to cry. Blackness crawled from the corner of her eyes, and consumed her.

She didn't resist it.

* * *

o - 0 - o

She woke up in a wagon. Her vision was hazy, out of focus. She shut her eyes, trying to adjust them, and to remind herself to analyze the situation. She tried to move trying to figure what hurt and realized that 'everything' was the answer. She opened her eyes, she could see better, her eyes greeted with glee the bright orange sky of the dusk instead of the dim and grim light of the forest.

She was covered in a cloak of the scouts with another one serving as a pillow. Even moving her neck hurt, but she obliged. Her right arm was splinted and wrapped to her chest. Her other arm was bandaged and three of her had a splint as well. She felt an itch in her forehead so she guessed that she'd a bandage as well.

She tried to sat, but hand in her chest halted her. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." A voice she knew too well spoke.

Captain Levi a top of his horse held her in the spot. "You're awake. Good."

She nodded slightly. She abided reluctantly his request. "Where are we?" they weren't in the forest. So that leaved two options…

"A few clicks away from Karanes district." He answered as he dismounted his horse. "We are resting the horses for now, but we will resume the march soon."

That only meant one thing. "The expedition failed." She said crestfallen, if they were near Wall Maria it would've meant that the expedition had continued.

"We've suffered great losses, not enough to make it to Shiganshina." He explained matter-of-factly, no gaiety on his voice. She felt just like that. Something rigged on her head, she sat up immediately.

"And Eren?! Is he ok? Did he won?!"

"The female titan captured him…" she almost hyperventilated at the spot. "…but we manage to rescue him, he's resting on the wagon ahead of you. The female titan escaped."

"Thank the heavens." She sighed in relief. She couldn't see him fully, but she noticed that he leaned slightly at the front. "You're wounded, Captain." She took a shot in the dark.

There was a momentarily silence, where he looked at her just to tend to his horse again. "I'm in a way better shape than you."

Granted. Her midsection was fully covered in bandages over her uniform. Her body belts had been removed just as her boots. Not to mention the previous wounds she'd noted before. In all things she was lucky to be alive. "What about the rest?"

"We dumped their bodies."

"Their bodies?" she asked confused.

Maybe it was her imagination, but she could see the captain flinch, and grimace, all in less than one second. "You don't remember?"

Remember? She didn't remember at what point she stopped crying and passed out but it probably wasn't too long considering that it was nearly the sunset when she and her team— her heart dropped. She saw it again, like if she was watching it from a distance. It was so vivid; the blood, the screams, the horrendous feeling that ensnared her, making her helpless. She remembered everything. "I…I see." Her good arm traveled grimly to her face.

The captain was looked at her. She tried to put her brightest smile. "I'm all right, captain. Sorry we failed to uphold your standards. But they knew the risks when they signed up. And I'm sure they would have given not only their life but their death to the cause."

The captain stood in silence. She tried to smile to reassure him.

"Rest for now, we would start the march in a few moments."

"Yes, sir." she smiled again, and he strode off.

She let her head hit the wood. 'Rest' he said. Right now what she wanted the least was rest, to be left alone with her thoughts and guilt. Just in cue, they didn't take long to catch up to her. Gunther getting his throat cut, Eld being bisected, and watching Olou smashed against the trees. All of them played in her mind. And yet she felt happy. Happy of being alive; the relief, the reprieve of seeing another day make her felt disgusted with herself to no end.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered before falling into slumber once again.

* * *

 **No, I haven't given up on RWBY, but there has been some…personal complications. Been reading Shingeki no kyojin, and wrote this to get it out of my head. Too rushed if you ask me. For those who read it (or watch the anime) you know what scene is this one. _Probably_** **will have more chapters, but so far, this will be clasified as a One-shot, but keep an eye close in your notifications, just in case.**

 **But hey, I'm no professional, please, do tell if you see any grammar mistakes. And I accept suggestions, don't be shy.**


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